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Journal Extracts of Dr. L.
I've been itching to write something Jurassic Park-related. Progress on Jurassic Park: Resurrection is coming along tremendously and I've actually started it, but due to reasons I can't show or tell you anything about it yet. Complete and utter secrecy without explanation is a common Styro-ism, I will admit, but this time it's really actually important so far. If I could tell you, I would, let's just put it that way. But something that I could actually publish would be nice. So I present to you a bit of an experiment: the Journal Extracts of Dr. L. Basically, what you need to know is as follows: someone of uncertain identity and occupation whom I shall call "Dr. L." has a a journal in which he conducts a sort of amateur study of the InGen animals, and finds a couple of interesting things. The extracts may or may not be incomplete. Enjoy this little creative exercise. Overview Firstly, I shall provide an overview of the entire dinosaur grouping; not as a collection of dry bones and taxonomic trees, but as living, breathing animals with true genetic and physiological relationships. The studies which I have conducted, while not nearly as monumental as the methods that brought these majestic creatures back to life, is important to our current understanding of these animals, and certainly an improvement on InGen's work. Not all of these creatures are dinosaurs, of course, but the exceptions are limited, and I will touch upon them in later entries. This leaves us with the dinosaurs. A unique and fascinating clade of their own, dinosaurs do not appear to be reptiles or birds. They are part of an entire ecosystem that we can only ever scratch the surface of. One unique aspect that is common among most dinosaurs is their metabolism. Modern animals are typically either ectothermic or endothermic, but dinosaurs are actually "mesothermic". This is a concept first proposed by the paleontologist Scott Sampson and colleagues as the "Goldilocks Hypothesis", and one I appear to have confirmed during my researches. As an ecotherm, a greater proportion of metabolic energy is devoted to production - such as growth, fat storage, or reproduction - than is devoted to maintenance - cell renewal, heat generation, and other day-to-day internal concerns. As an endotherm, the reverse is true. Most dinosaurs have devised something entirely different. It appears that instead of adopting the ectothermic or endothermic techniques, dinosaurs became "mesothermic", possessing metabolic rates intermediate between the two normal divisions. Mesothermy is not simply a gray area between ectothermy and endothermy, but rather a distinct metabolic state that devotes equal amounts of energy towards both production and maintenance in the body. It can only be assumed that this was a genuine metabolic strategy at some point during the history of evolution; after all, something must have happened for the low-cost process of ectothermy to progress into the high-cost process endothermy. The extra energy available that was provided by mesothermy (compared to the previous state of ectothermy) could then have been used by dinosaurs for other means, allowing them to evolve in form and behavior into a multitude of different varieties. There appear to be only two exceptions to this intermediate metabolic strategy: Velociraptor and Troodon. Both of these animals are maniraptoran dinosaurs, closely related to birds, and purely endothermic. Older forms of dinosaur with similar morphology, such as Segisaurus, remain mesothermic. I believe this suggests that the endothermic strategy first evolved in maniraptoran dinosaurs, and was later transferred to their evolutionary descendants the birds. The point at which mesothermy began to change into endothermy remains as yet unknown. Interestingly, this was not a position seemingly adopted by InGen. In fact, it appears that they assumed all the dinosaurs were endothermic, based on recovered papers originating from the company. They only did this analysis on one species, however, which was Velociraptor, and then apparently based their assumptions on this one piece of data. Another "feature" apparently shared across the dinosaurs is their inability to produce the amino acid lysine. This is an observation acquired directly from InGen records, and it is a point of controversy in this respect. All known animals are unable to internally generate lysine, and must get it directly from outside sources. Perhaps this was something especially detrimental to dinosaurs, though I could not see how they could survive in the wild without some efficient way of getting around it. I have observed the dinosaurs myself, and they appear normal and healthy without any lysine supplements added to their diet. This is a point that likely merits further study at some point in the future. Gallimimus One of the many species of dinosaur cloned by InGen is Gallimimus. They are quite interesting, to say the least. The name "Gallimimus" translates to "chicken mimic", which is admittedly an odd choice of name. They are much more like ostriches or other ratites in appearance and behavior, and not like a chicken at all. But "ostrich mimic" is already taken as a name (for Struthiomimus, which is closely related), and the laws of nomenclature or somesuch say that a certain name cannot be used twice. I fail to see why they couldn't have just named it "emu mimic" or something. But anyway, the anatomy of Gallimimus was not altered too much by the cloning process. It lacks feathers, of course, but this is an absence shared by most of the dinosaurs. The tail might be a tad shorter than in fossil specimens, but I'm not sure. The size of the animal is otherwise unaltered - six meters long from head to tail, two meters high at the hip. The precise species probably corresponds to Gallimimus bullatus. Probably the most obvious feature of Gallimimus is the flocking behavior. They will herd together in large groups at every opportunity. Again, they are reminiscent of ostriches in this respect. The footage of an ostrich group running across the salt flats of Africa is a familiar component of wildlife documentaries, and almost precisely the same image is represented here. Any rock or fallen log in the path of a running Gallimimus flock is hardly an obstacle; the animals will simply jump over them and continue on their way. The diet of Gallimimus is somewhat surprising. They are members of the theropod group, which consists of carnivorous dinosaurs such as Tyrannosaurus and Velociraptor, and it would likewise be logical to assume that Gallimimus was also a meat-eater. However, the ornithomimids were far more adapted to herbivorous habits, and this shows. Technically, Gallimimus is an omnivore; but plants such as ferns, shrubs, and flowers make up a far larger part of the diet than animal content, which consists mainly of insects. It is interesting to note that many paleontological researchers found the beak of Gallimimus to resemble a duck's, and so they hypothesized that the animal may have been a filter feeder. But during my observations I have seen that the beak is used to strain through fields of long grass, which I presume picks up small insects and spiders. Of course, grass did not evolve for at least ten million years after the close of the Mesozoic Era, but I think it is reasonable to say that the same behaviors were performed on other tall and thin types of plants. Gallimimus also uses gastroliths in order to aid digestion; due to their lack of teeth this is not unusual. Such a diet necessitates a fairly diverse habitat. Fossil evidence implies that there were plenty of water sources available in the time and place that these animals lived, and this does seem to be true in life. I was able to access a detailed map of the Isla Nublar facility, and the Gallimimus paddock is or was located near a sizeable river. That said, they also seem to require a good amount of open space, no doubt in order to stretch their legs and run around. Being a relatively small and defenseless dinosaur, it is preyed upon by a number of carnivores. Tyrannosaurus in particular is fond of ambushing these creatures - exactly why, I'm not sure. But similar ornithomimids did exist in North America sixty-five million years ago. Gallimimus is an Asian species, but I can see that it would be a close analogue to the American types. They are truly fascinating animals, and amusing to watch. Category:Styracosaurus Rider Fanfiction